Wednesday, April 14, 2010

On the River Walk

Another continental breakfast in the rally hall (John & Howie found a great little bakery and have been picking up donuts every morning) and then we car-pooled to the River Walk in San Antonio. Dick & Karin rode with us and two other couples followed in their truck. After a little confusion finding a parking lot, we finally got parked and headed for the Alamo gift shop and grounds. Here’s Dick & Karin ready for a fun-filled day!

The flowers were beautiful…

We didn’t end up doing the Alamo tour as most of us had already done so on a previous trip.

The oak tree below is getting close to 140 years old. It was huge! Then it was over to the visitor information center where we met up with the rest of the group and decided on Casa Rio Restaurant for lunch. This restaurant was founded in 1946 and is the oldest on the River Walk.

After lunch the four of us wandered up a level to find one of the geo-caches that Karin had researched. It was fun and challenging to be subtle with so many people around – we didn’t want to encourage a “muggler”! (a muggler is a person who observes someone finding a geo-cache and then gets curious and removes the geo-cache). At a little before 2:00 we met the others again for a boat ride on the river. Our guide was Joel and he was awesome!

This sculpture was a gift from Mexico and represents the friendship handclasp of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. It is called the Torch of Friendship.

Then we did two more caches on the River Walk itself, and wandered around enjoying the views, architecture and the ducks. And, of course, more beautiful flowers!

We even ventured down to see the dam on the river and then found an ice cream shop (actually several while trying, in vain, to find Karin some flavored yogurt!) before heading home right in the middle of rush hour traffic. Got back to the rally building just in time for an “appetizer” dinner with the group. Fun day!